The Best 4K Action Camera I Tried – Yi 4K Plus Review

Over the past couple of years I tried over 60 action cameras, some great, some good and some pretty bad ones.

These days you can get an action camera as cheap as $30 and as expensive as $700 and like any other product out there we have certain expectations depending the price.

The Yi 4K+ Action Camera costs just under $300 and it surpassed all my expectations! The video quality and clarity rivals other action cameras that cost almost twice as much. It can also record in 4K at 60fps and that isn’t something that we see for too many cameras, let alone action cameras.

I got the kit that contains the waterproof case and that is definitely worth spending the extra $30 just in case you plan on going on some adventures that involve water.

The Yi 4K Plus is powered by the Ambarella H2 processor and is using the Sony IMX377 image sensor and the results from this combination are exceptionally good.

One of the most important features for me is the ability to have electronic image stabilization for 4K 30fps recordings. That isn’t something that we usually see from any action cameras. Unfortunately the EIS cannot be used for 4K at 60fps. If you need that footage stabilized I recommend using a mechanical gimbal.

Another useful feature for the Yi 4K Plus is the ability to be controlled over WiFi from a smartphone or tablet. This is done through the Yi Action Camera app and that app can be found in the Apple Store or the Google Play Store.

Connecting the camera to your device is done effortlessly and it only takes a few seconds to do. Once connected you can see everything that the camera sees right on your device. There is a bit of lag when seeking the footage but it’s much better than most cameras I tried.

From the app you can change any settings for the camera, start and stop recordings and view what pictures and videos you have saved on the camera. Those can also be downloaded on your device. The WiFi connectivity works good up to 12-15 metres away from the camera.

Build Quality

The Yi 4K Plus camera is made out of plastic entirely and when you first see it it doesn’t look or feel like anything special but maybe that’s just me because I went through so many of them.

The camera has only one button at the top and with that you can turn on or off the camera, start and stop recordings. Everything else is done on the 2.2″ touch screen on the back of the camera.

The screen has a resolution of 640 x 360 and even though that is one of the best resolutions I’ve seen on an action camera is nowhere close to the screens that we have on our smartphones these days. The viewing angles are also decent but i wish the brightness would be a bit better.

The touch sensitivity is also good but the latency isn’t as good as you would get from a smartphone, however it’s more than enough for changing settings and moving through menus.

The Yi 4K Plus has a couple of built in microphones as well and i couldn’t believe how good the sound recording from the internal microphones was. Definitely the best microphone recordings I heard from any action camera. I have also included some microphone samples in the review video posted at the bottom of this article.

If the internal microphones aren’t enough for you there is a USB C port that accepts external microphones as well and that could be useful for filming some events where you need great sound recording.

At the bottom of the camera there is a 1/4″ screw hole as well and this way you can place the camera on a tripod or on different mounts depending on the activity that you need to film.

The 1400mAh replaceable battery is also placed at the bottom of the camera and can be easily accessed. Next to the battery there is a slot for the SD card.

The 1400mAh battery will give you about 70 minutes of recordings at 4K @ 30fps or about 100 minutes recording at 1080P @ 30fps.

Video and Picture Quality

As i said earlier the video quality is mind blowing good and hard to believe that it comes from an action camera.

The daytime recordings are super crisp and detailed and i couldn’t ask for anything more. The recordings in low light aren’t as crisp and there is a bit of noise that can be seen in the darker areas but still the best recordings I have seen from an action camera so far. I have included lots of sample daytime and night time recordings in the video review posted below.

The picture quality is very similar with the video quality and once again hard to believe that you can get these pictures from an action camera. If you want to check out some sample daytime and night time pictures i have included some in the video review posted at the bottom of this page.

Overall the quality from the video recordings is exceptional good and this little camera could easily replace a lot of bigger and more expensive cameras available on the market.

Conclusion

The Yi 4K+ is an amazing little camera that surpassed all my expectations from video quality to image stabilization and to battery life.

If you are looking for the best Action Camera and you are on a somewhat tight budget I highly recommend the Yi 4K Plus. Great camera for it’s price.

Amazon

Gearbest Promotions

Categories

Categories

About

Redskull Productions is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, Amazon.co.uk